Release Of Firefox 1.05 Fixes Potential Security ProblemsRelease Of Firefox 1.05 Fixes Potential Security Problems

The Mozilla Foundation plans today to release Firefox 1.05, a new version of its popular open-source Web browser, along with an alpha version of Firefox 1.1 or "Deer Park," the browser's next major update.

Updates to Thunderbird, the Mozilla Foundation's open-source E-mail client, and the Mozilla Suite are expected to follow tomorrow.

Version 1.05 fixes several potential security problems, based on vulnerability reports from private security researchers participating in the Mozilla Security Bug Bounty Program and from security companies such as Secunia.

"There are no known exploits that are taking advantage of any of these," says Chris Hoffman, director of engineering for the Mozilla Foundation, who notes that the severity of the potential vulnerabilities ranges from high to low. "If you can stay on top of what appear to be smaller problems, or problems that aren't currently being exploited, and you can knock those down, you really stay ahead of the game."

The alpha version of Firefox 1.1 is intended primarily for developers. Hoffman says a beta version will be available later this month and a final version should be released by the end of the summer. Firefox 1.1 will include a software update feature that will streamline the distribution of maintenance patches like version 1.05.